. [
J. Brand is moving beyond jeans for the first time next spring. Expect t-shirts, sweaters, jackets, skirts, and some non-denim kinds of pants. And they’ll be really fucking expensive: prices range from
$200 and $1,500. [
WWD]
Carine Roitfeld wonders sometimes if she’s really all that interesting. “
Sometimes I say, What is so interesting about me? I am just doing photo shoots. It’s not something that extraordinary. I’m not a great artist, I’m not writing books, I’m not a painter, and people in the streets ask me for a picture or a note and I say why? But I think it’s better to appreciate it, because maybe it’s not forever.”
Irreverent, a book that looks back at some of Roitfeld’s best shoots for
Vogue Paris — including
this one with
Carolyn Murphy and André J — comes out this October. [
Vogue.com,
Style.com]
Thursday Friday, the makers of those canvas tote bags that are screen-printed with appropriated images of overpriced status bags, like
Birkins and
Chanel 2.55s, say they are confident they’re on the right side of intellectual property law. (Even though a lawsuit from
Hermès did force the company to agree not to sell the “Birkin” totes anymore.)
Glamour seems skeptical of this notion, but didn’t
Richard Prince pretty much
settle this with
Marlboro like 30 years ago? [
Glamour]
Paz de la Huerta will appear in some ads for
Agent Provocateur. Falling drunk out of a black limousine
while wearing expensive lingerie is totally the classy way to fall drunk out of a black limousine. [
WWD]
- Tavi Gevinson says her next online project, which is called Rookie, will be different from other sites and magazine that target teenage girls. “Our content respects a kind of intelligence in the readers that right now a lot of writing about teenage girls doesn’t,” says Gevinson. “People think it’s just going to be another site or magazine that talks about how great celebrities are or how awful celebrities are or dieting…And I’m like, ‘Just you wait and see.'” Gevinson, as has been reported previously, broke with Jane Pratt to launch Rookie independently, with the help and advice of This American Life‘s Ira Glass. Anaheed Alani, who is married to Glass, is Rookie’s story editor. [NYTimes]
- And now, a sobering thought from Rei Kawakubo: “I don’t feel too excited about fashion today, more fearful that people don’t necessarily want or need strong new clothes, that there are not enough of us believing in the same thing, that there is a kind of burnout, that people just want cheap fast clothes and are happy to look like everyone else, that the flame of creation has gone a bit cold, that enthusiasm and passionate anger for change and rattling the status quo is weakening.” [WSJ.]
- Diane Von Furstenberg, the president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, yesterday sent a letter to all designers showing at New York fashion week asking that they and their casting directors card models. The CFDA has long recommended that girls under 16 not work New York fashion week, because the hours can be long, the environment is often adult, and because 14- and 15-year-olds should be, you know, in high school rather than embarking on a full-time international career that is all too often incompatible with getting an education. A successful model may walk in 4-6 shows per day for the month-long duration of the world’s four major fashion weeks. And there aren’t just shows, there are also fittings, castings, hair and makeup tests, doing “looks”, and all manner of other jobs to squeeze in. Backstage, where there are no private changing areas, photographers have been known to take girls’ pictures as they undress. There are also adults around who like to drink alcohol and sometimes do drugs. Not exactly a great place for a 14-year-old to be eking out a living. Nonetheless, girls under 16 have regularly slipped through the CFDA’s voluntary guideline; last season, then-15-year-old Hailey Clauson even walked for Von Furstenberg herself. So the carding thing sounds like a good step, as does the pledge from all major New York City modeling agencies to not send girls under 16 to show castings. But these recommendations are still all voluntary. And there is such a thing as a fake ID. [WWD]
- Meanwhile, casting agent Jennifer Starr says, “I feel clients are asking for more men and women these days versus young boys and girls. When a client asks for someone who has lived an interesting life; well, someone who is 16, typically, hasn’t experienced that much. I think we [the fashion industry] have done some damage to young girls who were embraced at a young age, only to be rejected when they become adults. The movement towards an older model is healthy for all, but especially for the viewer. Women and men looking at magazines don’t need to have an unrealistic aesthetic to strive for.” [The Cut]
- In this video, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen — whose collaboration with Toms resulted in $150 cashmere shoes — participated in a “shoe drop” in Honduras with Blake Mycoskie, the controversial company founder. The brand produced this neat little video of the trip. For another perspective on Toms’ shoe donation program, there’s this. [StyleList]
- Lauren Bush will officially become Lauren Lauren this weekend, when she marries David Lauren. Okay, well, Lauren Bush-Lauren, technically but the name is still fun to contemplate! The lavish wedding is planned for Ralph Lauren‘s Colorado ranch, but Lauren Bush’s grandparents, George H.W. and Barbara Bush, will not be in attendance. The bride’s parents, Neil and Sharon Bush, divorced after Neil admitted to repeated philandering, including having an affair with a woman from Barbara Bush’s office. (Which is perhaps noteworthy because Barbara Bush stood by George H.W. even though he’s widely believed to have had at least one affair.) Neil Bush’s divorce was contentious and messy and public and nasty, but snubbing your granddaughter’s wedding because of it seems a little extreme. [Daily Mail, NYPost]
- Remember that story from Australian Cosmopolitan that claimed Miranda Kerr had told them exclusively about her love of coconut oil? Which she supposedly ate 4 tablespoons of daily? Yeah, it was made up. Kerr never spoke to the ladymag — about coconut oil or anything else. Cosmopolitan was in fact misquoting Kerr’s blog, where she wrote that she consumes around 4 teaspoons of coconut oil per day. Experts say that eating large amounts of coconut oil can be harmful. The supermodel says, “everyone is different, but that is what works for me and I prefer it as a substitute to other oils more readily used in day-to-day food preparation and cooking. I suggest people consult with their health practitioner for what is right for them.” [Herald Sun]
- Model Emily Sandberg says American Vogue has gotten boring. “I used to read Vogue to be informed about what was current and cutting the edge of fashion. Now I find out which socialite is having marriage, drug or boyfriend problems and what to do with my cellulite and fine lines. The fashion spreads are no better. It’s the same hair, the same makeup, the same pose every issue. What happened to the most powerful magazine in fashion?” [Supermodelblogger]
- Tom Ford decided that at age 33 he’d reached his adult weight and would brook not an ounce more on his frame. The designers says that “looks are not the most important thing” in life, and that “you don’t have to care about your looks” as you age. Can you feel a “but” coming? Here it is: “But if one does care about one’s looks, key number one is stay thin. I’m the same weight now that I was when I was 33 years old. I weigh myself every day. If I gain more than three pounds, I eat vegetables for two or three days until I get back down to my weight.” Sounds fun. [BG]
- The Met’s massively successful “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” show — which the museum has always said will not and cannot travel — might go on display in London. Alexander McQueen and the museum are “in talks” with major U.K. museums. [Telegraph]
- Everybody! Backstreet’s back, all right. AJ McLean — who in our experience vied with Kevin for the title of “Backstreet Boy Certain Girls In 1997-98 Were Forced To Pretend To Have Crushes On After Their So-Called Friends Had Already Claimed Brian <3<3<3 Howie and (Maybe) Nick" but is probably a perfectly sweet guy — is hosting an event for Fashion's Night Out. He'll MC a karaoke night at a Kiehl’s store in Manhattan. [Fashionista]
- Like Marc Jacobs, Theory has had to postpone the New York fashion week show for the Olivier Theyskens-designed Theyskens Theory collection due to lost time during Hurricane Irene and the mass-transit shutdown that paralyzed the city for nearly 48 hours. Maybe one after-effect of Irene is the accidental revelation of which designers actually make most of their samples in New York City. [WWD]
- Vogue.com, which was relaunched last September, grew to 600 million monthly pageviews in June of this year, the last month for which numbers were available. That’s impressive, but largely due to Vogue.com’s wealth of long — and very functional and easy-to-click-through — slideshows, which gain pageviews. The site actually only reaches around 1.2 million monthly “unique” readers. [BI]
- Anna Wintour‘s been gearing up for fashion week by kicking back and watching the U.S. Open. When her face passed over the Jumbotron, the crowd reportedly applauded. [P6]
- PVH, the world’s largest shirt-maker and the owner of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein Inc., had a net income of $66.7 million in the quarter just ended — which is much better than the $70.6 million loss PVH experienced in the same period a year ago. [WWD]
- Revenues at Hermès rose 21.5% over last year during the first six months of the year, to $1.89 billion. Profits rose 50%, to €290.9 million. [WSJ]
- Zales, which announced it had bought a license to sell Jessica Simpson fine jewelry yesterday, had losses of $32.6 million during the second quarter. That’s worse than one year ago, when the company lost $28.5 million. [WWD]
- Michael Gross‘s 1995 book Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women is getting re-released with a new 12-page afterword. [WWD]
